Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1230 - 95: Killing and Capture

Chapter 1230: Chapter 95: Killing and Capture

While the mutated creature was massacring the Recovery Team, Tang Zheng ran at breakneck speed with Song Xin, who was sleeping on his back. His pace wasn’t any slower than Kong Licheng’s; in fact, it was gradually widening the gap between him and the newbies.

"Is this guy a humanoid monster?" Dong Zixuan, a few steps behind Tang Zheng, stared dumbfounded at his tall figure. His strides were steady and powerful. With each step he took, it seemed like the ground couldn’t bear his strength and quivered.

While running, the newbies were green with envy at Song Xin, wishing they had an old classmate who would treat them similarly. In all fairness, this woman’s chances of survival ranked third in the team.

Tao Ran, clutching her rifle, tried her best to keep up with Tang Zheng without falling behind. Her black hair shimmered with an orange-red luster under the firelight. She didn’t envy Song Xin; her gaze remained fixed on the battlefield, ready to deal with any sudden crises.

Tao Ran wasn’t the type of girl who waited for others to come to her rescue when in trouble. She would save herself, struggle, and even if she died, she wouldn’t regret it because she had at least tried.

"Tang Zheng, Zixuan, let’s stop running and kill the mutated creature," the traffic policeman suddenly proposed, which was met with everyone’s objection.

"Are you insane?" Liu Guohao, supporting his wife’s arm, wished he could kick this guy to death. "If you want to die, go by yourself. Why drag others into it?"

"Are we doing this or not?" the traffic policeman ignored Liu Guohao and looked at Dong Zixuan. "With your ability, plus our support, we should be able to kill the mutated creature."

The traffic policeman wanted to seize this opportunity. Though Tang Zheng had captured the Seed, Tao Ran and Zhao Dongtao were still waiting, and he wouldn’t get his turn to use it.

"Count me in!" After getting the Howling Reaper, Kong Licheng was brimming with confidence. He wasn’t foolish; he guessed the traffic policeman’s intentions. "But if we get the Seed, I’m also entitled to a share."

"I’ll join in too," Rong He volunteered eagerly, obviously also after the Seed.

The remaining male newbies also immediately expressed their willingness to fight. Besides their attitudes, they didn’t want to be seen as cowards by Tang Zheng. They too wanted the Seed; no one was a fool. With the policewoman’s help, killing the mutated creature should be easy, and since she didn’t need the Seed herself, it was naturally up for grabs amongst everyone.

"No, Zixuan is too tired," Tang Zheng dismissed the proposal after glancing at the policewoman’s pallid complexion.

"You don’t have to join the battle. Go take care of the women," Kong Licheng almost hoped that Tang Zheng would rest. The man was too strong. If he joined the fight, his contribution would surely be significant. When it came time to divide the Seed, it would definitely belong to the group leader, and he didn’t want to help dress someone else for the wedding.

"Aren’t you being a bit too conceited?" Zhao Dongtao gave Kong Licheng a disdainful look. "Oh, so you’re planning to take advantage of Dong Zixuan’s killing of the mutated creature to benefit yourself?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kong Licheng, having his intentions pointed out, became angry and embarrassed.

"If the Seed is lost, how will you divide it?" Tang Zheng asked calmly, knowing that this battle had to be fought, otherwise the newbies would definitely harbor resentment. Besides, he needed the Seed to enhance the team’s combat power. Moreover, policewoman, with her excessive sense of justice, would certainly agree. "Those who are fine, head to the anti-riot car to establish defenses. Are you waiting here to die?"

Jing Lan pulled Tian Tian along, helping Song Xin to leave. They were well aware of their limitations. It was Su Su who couldn’t bear to leave Zhou Meng, worried about potential danger.

Tao Ran loaded the RPG-7 with rocket shells, silently staying behind the car and watching the mutated creature to spot its weakness.

Tang Zheng didn’t let Black Long Straight leave. If you want to survive, you have to fight desperately.

"We definitely can’t just scramble for it. It should be divided based on each one’s contribution!" Kong Licheng believed that as Dong Zixuan’s colleague and a strong fighter, he was entitled to the Seed once he got it. Whether for public or private reasons, the policewoman would surely give it to him.

"This battle is a must. As long as we get the Seed, we can improve the team’s strength and increase everyone’s chance of survival," Rong He persuaded Dong Zixuan from behind a car, watching the mutated creature chase the Recovery Team. "Hold on a little longer, and then you can rest assuredly afterward."

"Give it to the person who’s most suitable!" Zhou Meng glanced at Kong Licheng with contempt, cursing his stupidity. If the Seed was distributed according to contribution, he wouldn’t even get a hair on it. Who here would dare claim to be stronger than Tang Zheng? Even Dong Zixuan, who had activated her ability, didn’t have that confidence.

"I’m fine," Dong Zixuan wiped the sweat off her forehead, persisting. She was such a simpleton. It was clear they planned to take advantage of her, and in this battle, she would reap no benefits.

Zombies inside a car broke the glass window and lunged out towards Kong Licheng. He was about to speak when he was suddenly startled by the appearance of a rotting head, hastily retreating in shock.

Tang Zheng raised his hand and fired three shots, blowing the zombie’s head off. The bullets passed through the car wall and into its heart. The incomplete corpse hung on the car window.

"Heh, you’re like this, and you still want the Seed?" Rong He mocked Kong Licheng, who was splattered with blood, naturally siding with Tang Zheng.

"Enough talk, let’s get to work!" Due to this delay, the mutated creature had already wiped out the Recovery Team and was heading towards the group’s hiding spot. Tang Zheng waved his hand, no longer obstructing them. "Those who want to kill, go on."

Everyone had witnessed the strength of the mutated creature, and no one wanted to be the first to go and die, so all eyes turned to Dong Zixuan.

"Use your ability, we’ll support you from the side," Kong Licheng said, feeling a blush of shame. He had been fearless as a member of the police force, but in this game, after witnessing real death, he found he wasn’t even as brave as Dong Zixuan.

"Want to live without putting in the effort, hogging all the good things in the world for yourselves?" Tang Zheng suddenly stood up, ran toward the mutated creature, and opened fire, fiercely striking its heart.

Tang Zheng was a real tough guy, and against the backdrop of a burning city under the night sky, his iron-blooded temperament was unmistakably apparent.

"Right, who said we should divide the spoils of war according to contribution? I completely agree," Tang Zheng turned around, asking with a mocking smile to the newbies.

Dong Zixuan ran out from the shelter, and upon getting closer to the attack range, she released her ability. The concrete under the creature’s feet softened and cracked, with magma erupting from beneath, trapping it.

The creature screamed, relying on its rough skin and tough flesh, it climbed out of the pool of magma step by step. Its skin burned and charred like paper, peeling off in pieces as smoke with a burnt smell drifted from its body.

Tang Zheng fired a barrage, bullets hitting the mutated creature and leaving pockmarks as the blood splashed was vaporized by the magma. Kong Licheng, seeing no danger, joined the fight—the creature, under the pressure of death, evolved once again.

The monsters’ terrifying ability to heal and adapt was their most fearsome trait. They could change their body form according to external conditions. The surface of the creature started to develop a layer of hard scales over an inch thick. Ordinary bullets bounced off, and even attacks from the Howling Reaper could only leave cracks. As the scales thickened, the threat diminished.

"Enlarge the magma pool," Tang Zheng urged as he saw the creature leap onto the road surface. "Tao Ran, use rocket shells to blast it back in."

Tao Ran, who had been taking aim for a while, didn’t miss. The rocket shell hit the creature’s forehead, engulfing it in flames. Its cheek, which had a quarter of its flesh stripped away, was also embedded with several pieces of shrapnel, but it wasn’t repelled. Fortunately, Dong Zixuan’s attack arrived just in time, trapping it once again in the magma pool.

The creature roared, and a mucous membrane grew from the orifice in its chest. As it inhaled, it quickly swelled, and its mouth also became narrow and tube-like.

"Be careful, avoid the front," Tang Zheng warned cautiously, constantly circling to always be at the side of the mutated creature as he attacked. Kong Licheng and the others lacked such awareness. Eager to kill it quickly, they moved as soon as they heard the group leader’s words.

Szzzt, the next second, the creature fired an air cannon. The visible air shot forth like a hammer, rushing dozens of meters and plowing a deep trench in the ground, displacing several cars in its path.

The newbies narrowly avoided the air cannon by a hair’s breadth, and Kong Licheng’s face turned pale. If not for Tang Zheng’s timely warning, he would have been hit. Still, a wave of sound that nearly pierced their eardrums swept half of Long Street.

The glass on buildings shattered continuously, but the crowd couldn’t hear anymore, temporarily deafened. This vibration even made everyone stagger, dizzy and disoriented.

The mutated creature inhaled, its chest swelling like a hydrogen balloon. It sidestepped and aimed toward the short-haired policeman who had barely spoken with Tang Zheng.

"Get away!" Tang Zheng bellowed.

"What?" the policeman didn’t hear and had just asked when the air cannon hit, sending him flying. He crashed onto the road surface over twenty meters away, and then a falling car smashed him into a pulp.

With two consecutive air cannons and the accompanying sonic attack, everyone struggled to stand firm, and even Ada who had been observing from the shadows was not spared. The only benefit was that the common zombies sensed the mutated creature’s menacing presence and thought it was its hunting territory, so they stayed away from the area.

"Zixuan, use your ability," Tang Zheng struggled to support himself, staggering towards Tao Ran, grabbed the rocket launcher, and loaded it at the fastest speed possible.

The policewoman, enduring the stinging pain of excessive consumption of her life energy, expanded the range of the magma pool again. The mutated creature, about to crawl out, fell back in and was even drenched head to toe by a wave of magma.

Facing the mutated creature with thick skin, high recovery rate, and strong healing capacity, Kong Licheng and the others were at a loss, only Tang Zheng’s RPG was still effective.

At that moment, Tang Zheng had become a human Katyusha rocket launcher, his slender fingers moving with afterimages, unbelievably firing twelve rocket shells in just one minute, all hitting the creature’s chest, causing its mucous membrane to rupture and flesh to splatter, with the heart laid bare.

The policewoman clenched her teeth, wanting to unleash her ability again, but Tang Zheng stopped her.

"If you don’t want to faint and become a burden, then stop. The battle is over," Tang Zheng roared. The life of the creature, constantly scorched by the magma and battered by rocket shells, had finally drained away.

As expected, a resplendent Golden Seed dropped out. Kong Licheng and the others’ eyes went wide with desire. Even Liu Binshi, who knew he had no chance, couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.

Tang Zheng didn’t pick up the spoils of war. Seeing Tao Ran was alright, he went to help Dong Zixuan, who had fallen to the ground from excessive energy consumption. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)